1. How can local initiatives help workless people find and keep paid work? Pamela Meadows Synergy Research and Consulting Ltd and National Institute of Economic and Social Research

2. What is the issue? Disadvantaged areas have concentrations of people who have disadvantageous characteristics leading to high rates of worklessness People in Britain work very close to their homes. Those in professional occupations work an average of 7km from home; those in elementary occupations an average of <3km (less in inner cities)‏ But Areas differ in their populations and in their labour market structures So Solutions need to be based on local knowledge and circumstances

3. What works? Good assessment of individual needs, including those of long-term sick and disabled people, is essential Holistic interventions, which address housing, health, childcare and substance use issues as well as labour market needs, are more effective than those which address work in isolation. Many people who could benefit from help need active encouragement to engage with the help and support available

4. What works? Those closest to the labour market benefit most from immediate placement into work (“work first”). Those who might find it difficult to cope in the workplace immediately benefit from some initial training, but this is much more expensive and delays the start of employment. Partnership working is key to delivering a sufficiently wide range of support. The most successful provision is based on and engaged with the needs of local employers. Transport issues are often ignored, but are important in people’s ability to get and keep jobs.

5. Local delivery capacity and institutions Areas differ in the capacity of the community to engage with initiatives. This may need to be developed. Successful delivery involves: staff, particularly personal advisers, with empathy and good communication skills a clear sense of purpose active outreach to engage those who are hardest to reach avoiding fragmentation of provision, which can cause confusion among clients an environment where clients feel comfortable good networking and relationships between different agencies good links with local employers and a willingness to provide them with services and support

6. Partnership issues It helps if partnerships build on existing relationships and networks Partnerships need to ensure that organisations that have trust of community (eg tenants’ associations) are represented Important to have employer involvement

7. Engagement and outreach Challenges in engaging communities include: Conflicts between neighbourhoods within the same local labour market Different interest groups and diverse communities Poor relationships between community and local or national government agencies Lack of community infrastructure and resources

8. Engagement and outreach Outreach helps to engage: those who are reluctant to engage with mainstream provision those who are unable to travel those with language difficulties recent migrants members of minority ethnic communities those reluctant to move outside a familiar environment Outreach helps to generate word of mouth confidence in provision Outreach should be imaginative in choice of premises

9. Meeting individual needs Individual needs differ Most workless people have a combination of two or more disadvantages: Health Language Childcare Skills Offending history Substance use Discrimination Minority ethnic communities are increasingly diverging in their labour market experience and outcomes

10. Meeting individual needs Provision should be based on initial assessment of individual capabilities and needs All clients benefit from flexible and supportive personal advisers Those closest to labour market benefit most from information and support in finding immediate work Those with more complex problems need a holistic approach (eg to drug use or housing problems)‏

11. Long-term illness and disability People need help to change their perception of themselves and to shift their focus from what they cannot do to what they can Physical adaptations in the workplace and help with travel arrangements can have a marked impact for those with physical disabilities Personal advisers who have developed expertise in the needs of particular types of client and the requirements of particular employers are more effective for long-term sick and disabled people than generalists are Those who have not worked for a long time need help in adapting to the workplace Interventions for people with mental illness have generally been less successful

12. Does work pay? Workless people often not aware of availability of in- work financial support Complexity of the system means those helping workless people into work often don’t understand it Risks to cash flow for those on very tight budgets should not be underestimated as a deterrent Key issues are childcare costs and rent levels. People with large families least likely to be better off in paid work

13. Engagement with employers Ensuring workless people move into work means ensuring that they are equipped for and have access to the jobs that are available locally Employers likely to be resistant to any involvement that is time consuming or without clear outcomes It can be useful to make use of existing employer networks and build on existing corporate responsibility activity SMEs find recruitment expensive. They are more likely to be engaged if their lives are made easier. Those working with clients need to build good relationships with a network of employers, and to follow through as clients move into work

14. Conclusion Essential to build on local knowledge and relationships Successful interventions know their clients, know their local employers, and have good relationships with other relevant specialist agencies Where local relationships and knowledge do not exist it may be necessary to put resources into developing them. In some areas, trust will be difficult to develop, especially where communities have previously received other interventions Partnership working is slow and can be resource- intensive, but the alternative is likely to be poor outcomes

15. More details The report on which this talk is based can be found at: http://www.jrf.org.uk/sites/files/jrf/2246.pdf